rmcjacket23

1. Doss and Thompson contribute on ST, which any way you look at it, a #3 or #4 WR on a team (which is what Mellette would be) needs to be able to do. Mellette missed essentially all of his first season due to injury, so the jury is obviously still out on him. 2. My point is very easy... if the FO thought that guys like Brown and Mellette were the future stars of this offense, why would the FO come out to the public and verbally acknowledge that we need another pass catcher? And even better... why would we bring Jacoby back? Nothing the FO has said or done in the last year suggests that they are comfortable with Mellette and Brown as the #2 and #3 WRs on this team in the future, and I agree with them. If the Ravens were to use a high draft pick on a WR or pick up a FA WR worth something, I'd expect a guy like Mellette to spend the entire season on the practice squad or as a gameday inactive.

Yup, I did. But I also keep perspective when watching pre-season games. For example... there once was a guy named Tommy Streeter... he was an awfully good pre-season player also.

What is there to love?

Ask and you shall receive... Ravens declined to tender restricted free agent WR Tandon Doss a contract, making him an unrestricted free agent. Doss would have been due $1.431 million under the low tender, a price he isn't worth. The 2011 fourth-rounder has caught just 26 career passes, and isn't an impact special teamer.Related: Ravens Source: Jamison Hensley on Twitter Mar 10 - 3:22 PM

Wouldn't surprise anybody if Hostler left the team, either due to firing or quitting. He might not be overly happy about being passed over for the OC job, and may not want to work in a new system with new coaches.

I think a lot of these assistant coaching "names" are a bit overblown. I doubt that a QB coach only focuses only on the QB play in terms of input into the offense. When you bring in coaches that you've worked with a long time, they all probably give input into different aspects of the game, including schemes, personnel, etc. I doubt Dennison comes in and just follows Flacco around like a puppy dog and watches everything he does. The idea of bringing in assistant coaches, in my opinion, is to bring in a plethora of coaches that have experience in the game and may or may not have particular experience in a particular aspect of football. Its one of the reasons why bring in a guy like Spagnuolo a few years ago. He's just another set of eyes and ears for Harbaugh and company to bounce ideas off of based on experience.

Perhaps he's not, we don't really know for sure. The assumption is that since Kubiak is apparently being aloud to choose some guys he brings with him, and Dennison's experience is as an OL coach, it would seem logical to assume that Dennison would get that role. Doesn't mean that Castillo is necessarily leaving, but possibly his role will be different.

Will be interesting to see how the rest of the coaching staff shakes out. Looks like Dennison will join, but no mention of Shanahan so far that I see.

Or maybe that's what we WERE, not what we are. The truth is... that's not what we have been the last two seasons. It was who we were in the first 3 seasons with Flacco and most of the 4th season, but since the AFC title game loss in NE, that's not who we've been. We weren't a control the clock team in 2012, because our defense made sure that they wouldn't get off the field until a team got to the 20 yard line (granted they were sound in the red zone).

Perhaps we are ignorning the most important question... what does this do for Flacco? We know a Kubiak-led offense likes the stretch run and likes to do play action a lot, emphasizing TEs. That likely means Flacco under center more often, which historically, he hasn't been as effective in. I would say Kubiak's offenses have always been a bit more on the conservative side, so that might mean less deep throws down the field, which makes sense given that we likely may lose Jacoby. To me, our choice for OC and system should be based around the strengths of Flacco, and not so much about "fixing the running game". It doesn't mean our new OC can't do both, but I think fans are overlooking the impact the new OC will have on the scheme Flacco has used.

But the truth is... we don't really know anything. Clearly the FO and coaching staff feels that the players were the main issue (offensive line), because they went out of their way to emphasize that changes in personnel are likely. In my interpretation, you don't simply say that if you think there is a single weakness like most fans think (Gradkowski). To me, it means the FO is looking at getting 2 or potentially 3 new offensive lineman in there to compete for a job. Is it possible its Castillo's fault and Harbaugh just refuses to acknowledge it? Possibly, but I consider that unlikely. The point remains... the overwhelming majority of fans on here spent the entire season bashing the zone blocking scheme and demanding we go back to a "power" running scheme. Essentially, at this point, the likelihood of that happening is about 0%, which means at a minium the scheme that we saw in 2013 will be extremely similar to the one we saw in 2014. The biggest question will be... who gets credit or blame if we have the same issues in 2014? I assume some will give credit to the potential new coaching staff and credit that to "continuity", but perhaps its just been the on-field execution all along? Same thing applies if it falters again... can we really blame two different coaching staffs?

From the sound of Schefter's report, it looks like it is Kubiak who essentially wants to have Shanahan and Dennison with him. I suppose that could potentially be a deal breaker if Harbaugh doesn't feel like he's really picking his own guys. Plus, it would mean he would have to fire at least somebody (presumably Castillo).

Precisely, and I can't believe that fans are being so hypocritical about this. They want Castillo out because his scheme "didn't work", yet the guys that are mostly wanted as OC (Shanahan/Kubiak/Dennison) are big time advocates of a very similar, bordering on identical type scheme. I mean if you really think about it... what does a guy like Dennison offer as OL coach that Castillo doesn't?

The question is... if Kubiak, Shanahan and Dennison are all coming to Baltimore (speculation), is there any possibility that Castillo stays? When I read reports earlier this morning that the Ravens were talking to Dennison, it was reported it was potentially for an OL coaching gig coupled with Shanahan as OC (they worked together previously). Somehow, though, I don't see all three of these guys coming. What role would Shanahan have? QB coach? I suppose it makes sense, given that Kubiak could be OC for only one season before getting HC offers again next season.

That would apply to anybody we hire...

Or he's going to the Vikings, which is where he is going.

But what if there is no candidate that they fall in love with? Does that mean they hire nobody? I generally agree that it seems like in most instances a team names a coordinator very quickly if they interview well and both agree they are a good fit. I think the process is simply taking longer because perhaps there are reservations about both candidates, or perhaps they are just so even that Harbaugh can't decide. In either scenario, it doesn't appear that Harbaugh is "in love" with any candidate, but that doesn't mean that we should wait around to find the guy that we fall in love with either. One more possible consideration... how likely is Hostler to be retained on the staff (as WRs coach) if he doesn't get the OC job? Would that make things a bit awkward among the coaching staff? Imagine if they hire Kyle and things don't go well... you've got Hostler sitting there saying to himself "I should have gotten this job". Maybe Harbaugh values Hostler as a member of the coaching staff and is afraid he won't come back if he doesn't get the OC job. Again, just speculation, but perhaps something to consider.

Any aspect of "talent deficiency" is subjective. It's entirely possible that the best days of guys like Suggs, Ngata and Rice are far behind them, which is why there is so much discussion about their roster status and salary cap numbers. Overall, I don't they we are "talent deficient", but given our current salary cap situation, there's a lot of question marks regarding whether we can even keep some of the talent we have. Suggs is in a contract year and is viewed as either an extension player or a salary cap casualty. Right now, it's 50/50 whether he's a Raven in 2014. Ngata is in the exact same boat in 2015. Another year like 2013 in 2014, and he's staring at the same thing Suggs is this time next offseason. Ray Rice's contract makes it almost prohibitive to release him until 2016, which guarantees him two more seasons in Baltimore. He's coming off the worst season of his career, and his age and workload is a concern. I'd say two years is the maximum time he has left with this team. You mentioned some other key players, and there is a lot of uncertainty... with our current cap situation, how likely is it that either Jimmy or Torrey Smith gets an extension this offseason? If they don't, they will be UFA's this time next offseason, which means they could elect to go to the team that's willing to pay them the most. There's no guarantee they are Ravens beyond this season (although I'd say they are both likely). Then you've got all the UFA question marks this offseason... Pitta, Monroe, and Daryl Smith are guys we clearly want to keep, but can we keep them at a price we can afford? We will likely be losing guys Oher, Art Jones, and Jacoby to FA. We've got to find replacements for them. All in all, I'd say we are losing 3 or 4 potential starters from last seasons team. Bottom line for me... I think there is less talent on this team than fans think (particularly offensively), and more talent on this team than the media thinks. But there's a lot of question marks going into FA and the draft, and we will just have to wait to see how it plays out.

I'm the first to say that I think fans perceptions that coaches are the problem are incredibly overblown. Nobody cares about the value of a coach when you are winning. Players get the praise during the good, coaches get the disdain during the bad... I guess thats the business. I will throw out this thought though, but I'm not really sure how relevant it is... At what point in the almost 20 year history of this franchise has this team had a quality offense? Stop and think about it. Hasn't offense almost always been the issue with this franchise? We're on our 3rd HC, have been through dozens and dozens of players, had probably close to a dozen QBs, and have arguably never really had a legit #1 WR in franchise history. This isn't a Harbaugh or Flacco problem necessarily. I'm not suggesting its all Ozzie's fault either, but its just something to think about.

That near sideline ball boy was terrible. He couldn't catch at all. Thus, my judgment is he should be fired from his likely unpaid job.

Two separate posts from two different people, he just didn't break them into two pieces... I posted... I see no scenario where Harbaugh is fired prior to the 2016 season, regardless of how the next two seasons go. What you have the credentials that he does, you don't get fired that quickly. All of this talk about him coaching for his job this season is just fan myths created from nothing. He's as safe as Belichick is at this point Somebody else responded...Mr. Bisciotti remarked in his state of the ravens address. Only one chance to fail on his watch. Then he took the whole lot to the wood-shed or Jupiter Fla. for a good ole fashion tail whooping. So, no one is safe. By the way, I responded to the latest post, pointing out that the entire FO staff described goes to FL every year to meet with Bischotti, regardless of whether they win the SB or go 4-12. I've seen or heard nothing to suggest Harbaugh's job is even remotely in jeopardy.

How do you know Turner or Kubiak wanted to talk to us?

We know nothing about the 2015 or even 2014 SOS. It's entirely possible that the AFC and NFC West divisions will be below average at that time. Divisions go from strong to bad in one offseason often.

The exact same thing happened after the last six seasons where Harbaugh was head coach. If they go 14-2, they go to Jupiter. If they go 2-14, they go to Jupiter. It's called planning. Again, I've heard or seen nothing to suggest Harbaugh is even in the ballpark to get fired.

I see no scenario where Harbaugh is fired prior to the 2016 season, regardless of how the next two seasons go. What you have the credentials that he does, you don't get fired that quickly. All of this talk about him coaching for his job this season is just fan myths created from nothing. He's as safe as Belichick is at this point.